Securing device for loose-leaf binders

ABSTRACT

A strip of material comprising slots and fastening means is designed to be folded and assembled with a ring of a loose-leaf binder in such a way as to prevent the unintentional opening of the ring and to hold down the loose-leaf pages.

United States Patent [1 1 [111 3,910,708 Rohner 1 Oct. 7, 1975 SECURINGDEVICE FOR LOOSE-LEAF BINDERS Inventor: Benedikt Rohner, Zurich,

Switzerland Assignee: Robert Krause KG, Espelkamp,

Germany Filed: Dec. 13, 1974 Appl, No.1 532,467

Foreign Application Priority Data Primary ExaminerJerome SchnallAttorney, Agent, or FirmStewart and Kolasch, Ltd.

[ 57] ABSTRACT A strip of material comprising slots and fastening meansis designed to be folded and assembled with a ring of a loose-leafbinder in such a way as to prevent the unintentional opening of the ringand to hold down the loose-leaf pages.

1 Claim, 4 Drawing Figures Dec. 13, 1973 Switzerland 17464/73 US. Cl.402/ R; 402/68 Int. Cl. B42F 3/04 Field of Search 402/80 R, 80 L31, 24,402/4, 68, 69, 60; 24/16 PE, 30.5 P, 91, 245 FF SECURING DEVICE FORLOOSE-LEAF BINDERS This invention relates to a securing device forlooseleaf binders.

Loose-leaf binders require both a means of keeping the rings fromopening unintentionally and a means of holding the pages together. Forthis latter purpose, there are strips wrapped around the pages when theloose-leaf binders are sold, while slidable clamps on the ring-halves ofone side are known for such binders when in use. Aside from the factthat the aforementioned strips can hold the pages together only untilthe binders are first put to use, the known holding means do not preventthe rings from opening unintentionally, as very often happens duringtransportation, or when the binders are pushed into upright filecontainers.

It is the object of this invention to provide a securing device forloose-leaf binders which is economical to produce, which holds the pagesdown, and which at the same time prevents any unintentional opening ofthe rings.

To this end, the securing device according to the present invention, fora loose-leaf binder having rings each formed of two ring-halves,comprises a strip of material having three fold-lines disposed at rightangles to the longitudinal axis of the strip, two elongated slots, tworesilient lobes at one end of the strip, and a hole disposed at the baseof the lobes, wherein the fold-lines are so disposed that the strip canbe folded into four sections by bending it at a 90 angle in onedirection along the first two fold-lines and folding it back by 180 inthe opposite direction along the third foldline so that the first,third, and fourth sections thus formed then lie in substantiallyparallel planes, the slots are then situated in the first and thirdsections, lie upon one another, and are adapted to cooperate with aring, the width of the slots being greater than the thickness of thering, the slot in the first section being longer and the slot in thethird section being shorter than the diameter of the ring, the free endof the fourth section is adapted to form a fastening head comprising thelobes, the lobes being adapted for positioning under the uppermostportion of the ring, and the hole is adapted to receive one of thering-halves, the length of the third section being such that it forms aholding-down tongue together with the fourth section.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described in detailwith reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the device before folding,

FIG. 2 is a corresponding side elevation,

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the securing device in use, and

FIG. 4 is a corresponding top plan view.

In the embodiment illustrated, the loose-leaf securing device consistsof a strip 1 of polypropylene which is divided by fold-lines 2-4,running at right angles to its longitudinal axis, into four sections5-8, the third of which (7) is the longest. The fold-lines 2-4 areformed by suitable cross-sectional weakenings which are so disposedthat, as viewed in FIG. 2, the strip 1 can be folded downwards along thefoldlines 2 and 3, but upwards about the fold-line 2. In the sections 5and 7, which are separated from one another by the section 6, there areslots 9 and 10 disposed along the longitudinal axis of the strip 1. Slot9 extends into section 6. The slots 9 and 10 are of different lengths,that of the slot 9 being greater and that of the slot 10 being less thanthe diameter of a loose-leaf binder ring 11. The free end of the section8 takes the form of a fastening head and comprises two outwardlyextending end lobes 12 which define between them a hole 13 for thepassage of one of the two ring-halves 11a of the ring 11. The lobes 12also comprise on their facing edges two inwardly projecting holdingportions 12a, the space between which is less than the thickness of aring-half 11a.

In the embodiment as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, the securing deviceis used with a loose-leaf binder of the type having a ring-supportingstrip 15 attached to the inside of the back cover, adjacent to thespine. The securing device is assembled with a ring 11 of such a binderin the following manner: first the slot 9 of the strip 1 is pushed downover the closed ring 11 of the as yet empty binder. A further fold-line14 enables the section 5 to fit against the slightly camberedringsupporting strip 15. A bevel 9a in the outer edge of the slot 9serves to facilitate gripping behind the respective ring-half 11a andthus helps to keep the unfolded strip 1 from falling off the ring 11.The ring 11 may now be opened, loose-leaf pages 16 inserted, and thering 11 re-closed. The strip 1 is then bent at a angle along each of thefold-lines 2 and 3, and the section 7 is pushed over the closed ring 11as far as the length of the slot 10 allows, with the ring 11 passingpartially through the slot 10. Finally, the end section 8 is folded backby in the opposite direction, and the two end lobes 12 are pressed downon each side of the projecting portion of the ring 11 so that one of thering-halves 11a passes into the hole 13, while the two holding portions12a of the lobes l2 lie beneath the uppermost portion of the ring 1 1and thus hold the strip 1 securely in place.

When the strip 1 is in the position of use as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4,where it is held by the lobes 12 which have snapped in under the upperportion of the ring 1 1, the two ring-halves 11a are resting againstrespective ends of the slot 10, so that it is impossible for the ring 11to open unintentionally. The length of the section 7 causes it, togetherwith the section 8 which is lying upon it, to project laterally beyondthe ring 11 for a certain distance and thus to form a holding-downtongue for the pages 16. To release the securing device, it suffices topull up on one of the lobes 12, thereby disengaging both lobes 12 fromthe closed ring 11 and then removing the section 7 from the ring 11. Inthis position, the ring 11 may easily be opened, and the pages that areturned then rest against the inner side of the section 7, which thusserves as a support for the stack of turned pages 16 and, to a limitedextent, also serves as an aid in turning the pages.

In this way, it is possible to provide with the simplest means asecuring device for loose-leaf binders which not only holds down thestack of loose-leaf pages but at the same time secures the rings intheir closed position as well.

What is claimed is:

1. A securing device for a loose-leaf binder having rings each formed oftwo ring-halves, said device comprising a strip of material having threefold-lines disposed at right angles to the longitudinal axis of saidstrip, two elongated slots, two resilient lobes at one end of saidstrip, and a hole disposed at the base of said lobes, wherein saidfold-lines are so disposed that said strip can be folded into foursections by bending it at a 90 angle in one direction about the firsttwo of said fold-lines and folding it back by 180 in the oppositedirection along the third of said fold-lines so that the first, thirdand fourth of said sections thus formed then lie in substantiallyparallel planes, said slots are then situated in said first and thirdsections, lie upon one another, and are adapted to cooperate with a saidring, the slot in said first section extends into said second section,the width of said slots being greater than the thickness of said ring,said slot in said first and second sections

1. A securing device for a loose-leaf binder having rings each formed oftwo ring-halves, said device comprising a strip of material having threefold-lines disposed at right angles to the longitudinal axis of saidstrip, two elongated slots, two resilient lobes at one end of saidstrip, and a hole disposed at the base of said lobes, wherein saidfold-lines are so disposed that said strip can be folded into foursections by bending it at a 90* angle in one direction about the firsttwo of said foldlines and folding it back by 180* in the oppositedirection along the third of said fold-lines so that the first, thirdand fourtH of said sections thus formed then lie in substantiallyparallel planes, said slots are then situated in said first and thirdsections, lie upon one another, and are adapted to cooperate with a saidring, the slot in said first section extends into said second section,the width of said slots being greater than the thickness of said ring,said slot in said first and second sections being longer and said slotin said third section being shorter than the diameter of said ring, thefree end of said fourth section is adapted to form a fastening headcomprising said lobes, said lobes being adapted for positioning underthe uppermost portion of said ring, and said hole is adapted to receiveone of said ring-halves, the length of said third section being suchthat it forms a holding-down tongue together with said fourth section.